The expanded and improved Second Edition of our best-selling How to Open a Successful Pawnshop is written by Norman Gornbein, a former pawnbroker and master jeweler. The book is thorough, clear, and, yes, even entertaining, thanks the author's positive and engaging personality. Norman Gornbein, whose extremely successful pawnshop was featured on CNN, now works as a consultant to existing pawnshops and setting up new pawnshops for a $50,000 fee and up. Hardcore Pawn's facility was set up by Norman Gornbein. How to Open a Successful Pawnshop is all about how Norman Gornbein did it and does it, and how you can do it too. The book includes priceless and detailed information on how to evaluate gold, diamonds, and jewelry. How to Open a Successful Pawnshop covers anything that will be brought into a pawnshop including watches, cameras, electronics, firearms, musical instruments, sporting goods, tools, and even vehicle title loans. Related businesses such as payday loans, providing debit cards, and online pawnshops are also included. In addition, you will be shown how to organize your pawnshop, make it secure, staff it with the right employees, and even fill your pawnshop with a starting inventory at ZERO COST! How to Open a Successful Pawnshop is well worth the price to those who aspire to enter the very profitable business of becoming a pawnbroker-and to established pawnbrokers who want to improve their business.

How to Start, Run, and Grow a Reputable & Profitable Pawnshop Business Are you looking for a career that can bring long-term profitability? Are you concerned about starting a business that will outlast economic hardships? Pawnshops were one of only a few institutions in the Great Depression-era that provided cash as the banks started to fail, and people were getting rid of cherished and valuable items in order to pay debts. Today, pawnshops are still the main source for people who want to turn items into cash. Gold, silver, guns, collectibles, antiques, and electronics are items that are bought, sold, traded, and borrowed against as collateral. These are items that the average American probably owns many of. Even in times of a "slow economy," one business has withstood the test of time - pawnbrokers. People will always be in need of a quick buck, in the form of a pawn loan or selling their high-end possessions. These loans might be to pay for bills or to generally make ends meet for a short while. You could provide this needed service for your neighborhood by opening a business as a pawnbroker. There are plenty of business opportunities if you are looking to start your own business. I've researched plenty of options. After considering the pros and cons of many, I settled on what I felt was the best option to open a pawnshop. This may sound like a unique and possibly odd business choice, but it is actually a sound business decision. Pawnbrokers are the preservers of history. They provide an excellent source of unique items that collectors won't find anywhere else. Each piece that walks through the pawnshop doors might be a priceless gem that no one else has ever seen before. Pawnshops are places where you can find history, antiques, jewelry, and other items that have often been handed down through generations. Owners may actually know the source of items or offer stories of where the items come from. In my book, I will guide you through the process of establishing your own pawnshop from scratch. You need not have any business experience to start this business, just a desire to challenge yourself to create a business that can grow and thrive. You Will Learn: A brief history of pawnbroking What a pawnbroker is How the pawn process works What you should know to start your own business How to craft a business plan that works What your startup costs could be How to deal in gold, silver, guns, antiques, collectibles, electronics, and jewelry How to deal with employees to staff your new shop How to handle marketing How to choose a good POS How to grow your pawnshop business As an added bonus, I have also included an appendix of requirements for pawnbrokers listed by state. After you read this book, you should have a much better understanding of what becoming a pawnbroker entails. What are you waiting for? Click "Add to Cart" now. That's the first step to achieving your entrepreneurial dreams! For a very limited time, when you purchase the paperback book, you can download the Kindle version for FREE, just as a special thanks to you.

Businesses these days talk a lot about figuring out what the customer wants. Well, here’s your first lesson: the customer doesn’t know what he wants. This book is going to show you how to convince him he wants the thing you’re selling. Les Gold has been in business since age twelve, when he started selling used golf clubs from his dad’s basement. Now he owns Detroit’s biggest pawnshop, American Jewelry and Loan, and is the star of the hit reality TV show Hardcore Pawn. As a third-generation pawnbroker, Gold grew up in the business, dealing with cus­tomers who could be unruly and violent as often as they were friendly. He became good at selling just about anything and at buying items for what they were worth. Although he started at his family’s small pawnshop, he has now expanded into a fifty-thousand-square-foot former bowling alley, making a thousand deals a day. On any given day, he could be taking a vin­tage car in to pawn or chasing down a thief who’s just stolen a gold chain from the store. No business school in the world can teach you as much about buying, selling, negotiating, managing employees, dealing with customers, advertising, tracking trends, and predicting the economy’s ups and downs. In this entertaining, honest book, Gold takes you inside some of his weirdest, wacki­est deals and steals. From the monkey his dad once took in to pawn to the deal Gold made for a stripper pole, he has no boundaries for what he considers to be part of his business—and neither should you. You will learn: How to tell an emotional story when you’re selling—and take emotion out of the transaction when you’re buying Why judging your customers before you know them can kill a potential deal How to deal with risk, both mental and physical How to communicate with employees (even if they’re your own kids) Why investing in relationships with your community is time well spent Why your business should never be limited by what others tell you it should be No place in the world prepares you better for the working world than a pawnshop, and Les Gold takes you inside his shop to share what he’s learned from fifty-five years in the most interesting job in the world.

Book & CD-ROM. Did you spend your childhood reading detective novels, imagining how amazing it would be to start your own agency? Have you recently retired from your current job in the police, military, or other investigative agency? Do you want to start your own company? If so, consider owning and operating your own private investigation business. With a massive upside and potential for growth, the industry has been booming for years. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics' Occupational Handbook for 2010-2011, numbers are projected to increase as the demand for private investigators increases in a time of heightened security, employee background checks, cyber crime, and increasing litigation. The BLS projects 22 percent growth in the field over the next decade. Now is the perfect time to break into the private investigation industry. This book was written for anyone who has considered working in the field of private investigation and decided that it would be ideal for them. How to Open and Operate a Private Investigation Business will teach you everything you need to know about the profession, starting with the basics of what you can expect and which preconceptions are just Hollywood fancy. You will discern the key differences between a private investigator and a police officer and why those who want to be the latter should consider all their options before getting into private work. You will learn how to choose a niche of investigation and how to think critically. You will pick up tips on how to investigate a case and perform all of your necessary functions legally. Whether you will be working out of your home or are looking to buy or rent office space, this book will provide a wealth of start-up information, from forming and naming your business to deciding if it will be a solo or joint venture. Several chapters are devoted to explaining how to form a partnership, LLC, corporation, or sole proprietorship, as well as the legal implications for each type of business. This comprehensive manual will arm you with everything you need to operate your business, including sample business forms; contracts; worksheets and check lists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations; lists; plans and layouts; and dozens of other valuable, time saving tools of the trade that no business owner should be without. Giving detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through every step that will attract success. You will learn how to draw up a winning business plan using the companion CD-ROM with an actual business plan you can use in Microsoft Word. You will familiarise yourself with basic cost control systems, copyright and trademark issues, branding, management, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, and pricing formulas. Understand how to hire and keep a qualified professional staff, meet IRS requirements, manage and train employees, generate high-profile public relations and publicity, and implement low-cost internal marketing ideas. You will learn how to build your business by using low- and no-cost ways to satisfy customers, as well as methods to increase sales and have customers refer others to you. This book imparts thousands of insider tips and useful guidelines, including case studies of real world successful private investigation businesses. Discover how to hire contractors and attract clients. Determine which licenses, liability insurance, contracts, and forms you will need, such as privacy agreements. You will find out what tools you need, including the right camera and lenses. Employ modern computer equipment to accent your investigations and use the internet to search through public records, private databases, and courthouse records to speed up the process. Learn how to perform background investigations, interviews, and surveillance and the basics of each type of investigation. For anyone who is considering or has ever considered starting his or her own private investigation business.

"NON-FICTION -- Full of colorful characters and the fascinating wheeling and dealings of the pawn shop Rick Harrison owns and runs with his father and his son, UNTITLED is a tie-in to Pawn Stars, one of the most popular shows on all of cable. It will take readers behind the scenes of Harrison's family-run pawn shop and bring its lovable cast to vivid life on the page. But it will also present Harrison's amazing personal story. While he registered a near-200 IQ at an early age, Rick developed a similarly uncanny ability to find ever-deepening trouble that nearly ruined his life. Yet the birth of his son and a reconnection with his father would bring Harrison peace at a time of desperation and, together, they would build the booming business where The Antiques Road Show meets American Chopper and millions of viewers--and potential readers--find they cannot get enough"--

"Cogently argued, fills an important gap in the literature, and is accessible to undergraduates." —Choice "Dismantles the mythology surrounding pawnshops and check-cashing outlets, and demonstrates that they are no longer on the fringe of our financial system but integral to it."—San Francisco Bay Guardian In today's world of electronic cash transfers, automated teller machines, and credit cards, the image of the musty, junk-laden pawnshop seems a relic of the past. But it is not. The 1980s witnessed a tremendous boom in pawnbroking. There are now more pawnshops thanever before in U.S. history, and they are found not only in large cities but in towns and suburbs throughout the nation. As John Caskey demonstrates in Fringe Banking, the increased public patronage of both pawnshops and commercial check-cashing outlets signals the growing number of American households now living on a cash-only basis, with no connection to any mainstream credit facilities or banking services. Fringe Banking is the first comprehensive study of pawnshops and check-cashing outlets, profiling their operations, customers, and recent growth from family-owned shops to such successful outlet chains as Cash American and ACE America's Cash Express. It explains why, despite interest rates and fees substantially higher than those of banks, their use has so dramatically increased. According to Caskey, declining family earnings, changing family structures, a growing immigrant population, and lack of household budgeting skills has greatly reduced the demand for bank deposit services among millions of Americans. In addition, banks responded to 1980s regulatory changes by increasing fees on deposit accounts with small balances and closing branches in many poor urban areas. These factors combined to leave many low- and moderate-income families without access to checking privileges, credit services, and bank loans. Pawnshops and check-cashing outlets provide such families with essential financial services thay cannot obtain elsewhere. Caskey notes that fringe banks, particularly check-cashing outlets, are also utilized by families who could participate in the formal banking system, but are willing to pay more for convenience and quick access to cash. Caskey argues that, contrary to their historical reputation as predators milking the poor and desperate, pawnshops and check-cashing outlets play a key financial role for disadvantaged groups. Citing the inconsistent and often unenforced state laws currently governing the industry, Fringe Banking challenges policy makers to design regulations that will allow fringe banks to remain profitable without exploiting the customers who depend on them.

Anyone can make enough to save $1,000,000 in 3-7 years. Most self-made millionaires are made through business ownership. Many people think about it but never take action, they do not have an idea, they do not have the money, and flat just do not know how. This is a practical book to teach you how to find, start, finance, and get free advice to own and grow your own business. For example, a yardman with no money was worth over $9,000,000 in 7 years after buying a nursery and growing his business. There are many more stories and lessons, to include how the author went from bankrupt to having his first million dollars in 3 ½ years. This book will change your perspective and put you on the path to financial independence.